Impressive GCSE results at Morpeth’s high school

Staff at King Edward VI School in Morpeth are delighted with the Year 11 cohort of students for achieving excellent exam results following changes to the GCSE structure.

Due to amendments to the English and maths curriculum and the new number grades system for both subjects, parents have been provided with an information summary – which includes details of appropriate progression routes for students.

Mark Simpson, head of school at KEVI. Picture by Jane Coltman.

In English and maths, 4 is equivalent to a C grade and is called a ‘standard pass’, 5 is considered a ‘strong pass’ and 6 is equivalent to a high B grade.

The new qualifications also include three tiers of grades (7, 8 and 9) to replace A* and A.

When combining English and maths subjects, the KEVI result for ​5​​ ​and​ ​above​ ​in both was ​56.2 per cent and the figure for 7 and above in both was 25.3 per cent.

Head of school Mark Simpson said: “We have had another fantastic set of GCSE results, especially at the highest grades.

“This is really pleasing given the new more challenging English and Maths GCSEs this year.

“Staff and students have worked really hard to achieve these results and I would like to congratulate them and thank them for their commitment and hard work.

“Almost 38 per cent of students gained the highest grades in English (7 to 9) and more than 31 per cent achieved this in maths.

“The new accountability measure of Attainment 8, which measures performance across eight subjects, is also very high at 52.4.

“This shows the breadth of successful achievement across all subject areas.

“Two students, Luke Bailey and Nicole Souter, achieved the highest grade possible – an A* or level 9 – in every one of their subjects.

“This is an incredible performance, especially as level 9s are only awarded for really exceptional scores.”

In addition, 70 students (21 per cent of the cohort) achieved eight or more A*, A or equivalent 7 to 9 grades.

Luke, who lives in Longframlington, got A*s in additional science, further additional science, design and technology: electronic products, geography, history, maths, further maths and Spanish in addition to his 9s in English language, English literature and maths.

He will return to KEVI to study A-levels in chemistry, maths, further maths and physics.

The 16-year-old said: “I’m delighted with these results and I’m also happy for my friends, who have got the grades they wanted.

“I was surprised to get the top grade in English language and English literature, as I didn’t think I had done really well in those subjects.

“I would like to thank all my teachers for their hard work in helping me to achieve these results.

“Going into engineering is the plan at the moment, but I’ll see how things go over the next two years before deciding what to do next.”